Tufting machines



Jan, 13, 1970 A. SINGLETON TUFTING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 13, 1967 INVENTOR. Alan Singleton WITNESS d/wm mz; )Q.

ATTORNEY A. slNsLEToN TUF'IING MACHINES Jan. 13, 1970 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 13, 1967 INVENTOR. Alan Singleton WI TNESS ATTORNEY United States Patent O M 3,489,326 TUFTING MACHINES Alan Singleton, Great Harwood, England, assignor to Singer-Cobble Limited, Blackburn, Laucashire, England, a company of England Filed Nov. 13, 1967, Ser. No. 682,128 Int. Cl. F16h 37/06 U.S. Cl. 226-109 13 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This disclosure relates to textile machinery, such as tufting machines and the like, and is particularly directed -to pattern attachments therefor. Pattern attachments for producing variations in pile height in pile fabrics are known in the art and are in relatively wide use today. The present disclosure sets forth an improved pattern attachment of the type which produces variations in pile height and is particularly concerned with improvements over a pattern attachment of the type disclosed in United States Patent No. 3,103,187, issued on Sept. 10, 1963 to Wallace W. Hammel, Ir.

Brief summary of invention In United States Patent No. 3,103,187, mentioned above, there is disclosed a drive arrangement for the yarn feed roll units of a tufting machine which includes a drive shaft coupled to the rolls to transmit a drive thereto, two continuously driven elements journaled for rotation freely on said shaft and rotating at different speeds, and an electrically actuated magnetic clutch associated with each of said elements for selectively coupling the same in driving relation to said shaft, the clutches being controlled according to a pattern mechanism.

The continuously driven elements and the clutches are located within a clutch box extending longitudinally of the machine over substantially the whole of the extent thereof, such box also containing drive chains which effect the rotation of the driven elements, the latter taking the form of chain sprockets.

In the arrangement of the aforesaid machine, a fault in the drive transmission to any feed rolls necessitates the opening of the clutch box and the stripping down of that part of the assembly contained therein in which the fault occurs, such a procedure being time consuming and hence, expensive. Furthermore, the machine down-time may -well be out of all proportion to the seriousness of the fault.

In the present invention there is described a yarn feed roller assembly which includes a plurality of drive shafts, a feed roll mounted on each of said shafts and rotatable relative thereto, the rolls of the said shafts being drivingly connected one to the other, and a drive transmitting means between each shaft and its respective roll and operable to effect a drive coupling therebetween, the whole being adapted and arranged to allow of the driving of the rolls at the speed of one or the other of the drive shafts. The feed roller drive shaft comprises a plurality of aligned shaft sections arranged in spaced end-to-end disposition, a stub shaft between each successive section, and cooperating means adapted drivingly to connect the stub shaft with the adjacent shaft section or sections. Preferably, each drive transmitting means comprises an electromagnetic clutch disposed between the shaft and the respective roll and adapted, upon actuation, drivingly to couple said shaft and roll, and the rolls are connected by the intermeshing of peripheral teeth respectively provided thereon. The drive shaft preferably extends from end to end of the machine for corresponding rolls of each group or pair thereof, each said drive shaft being driven at one or both of its ends.

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Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved yarn feed roller structure for supplying yarns to a tufting machine according to requirements as dictated by a pattern to be tufted.

It is another object of the invention to provide a drive shaft of such form as readily to allow of the removal or replacement of the drive rolls carried thereby as and when necessary and wherein the down-time is minimized.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be best understood on reading the following detailed description with the accompanying drawings.

Brief description of drawings FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a feed roller assembly constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 shows a diagrammatic plan view of the feed roller system for a carpet tufting machine;

FIGURE 3 is a corresponding view, to a larger scale and partly broken away, of part of the arrangement shown in FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4 is a view corresponding to FIGURE 1 and shows an alternative arrangement.

Detailed description of the invention Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIGS. 1 to 3 thereof, a tufting machine feed roller assembly comprises spaced parallel drive shafts 12, (FIG. 2) a plurality of feed rolls 13 rotatably mounted on each such shaft, and a drive transmitting means 14 (FIGS. 1 and 3) between each roll and its respective shaft.

Each drive shaft 12 preferably comprises a plurality of sections 12a joined in end-to-end configuration by stub shafts 12b rotatably mounted in bearings 12:: carried by brackets 15 secured to the machine frame 16 at spaced intervals therealong, the shaft sections 12a and stub shafts 12b having co-operating formations 12d, 12e thereon to effect a drive coupling therebetween and the engagement of such formations being maintained by split collars 12f disposed about the shafts in the region of the jointure thereof.

The feed rolls 13 each comprise a cylindrical sleeve 13a, a hub 13b mounted on and freely rotatable relative to the shaft 12 and cooperating flanges 13a, 13b on the sleeve 13a and hub 13b whereby the said parts are joined together. Gear teeth are provided at the outer periphery of the sleeve 13a and at one end thereof, the teeth 130 of one roll meshing with those of the corresponding rolls on the other shaft thereby to effect a drive coupling between such corresponding rolls. Bushings 13d are provided between the'hub 13b and shaft 12.

The drive transmitting means 14 preferably comprises an electromagnetic clutch located in the annular space between the sleeve 13a and shaft 12, such clutch ha ving element 14a keyed to the shaft 12, and including an annular disc 14b splined to the hub 13b and movable axially thereof into or out of abutment with the said element 14a upon actuation of the clutch. The clutch body is suitably fixed to the machine frame 16 by a bracket 17, and is located axially of the clutch element 14a by a clip 14d. Motion of the annular disc 14b relative to the hub 13b and away from the clutch part 14a is limited by a clip 14s. The electrical leads 18 for the clutch are carried by the bracket 17.

The operation of the assembly is as follows:

According to the desired rate of yarn feed at each feed position, the feed rolls 13 thereat are coupled to the fast (high tuft) or the slow (low t-uft) drive shafts 12 by actuating the appropriate clutch 14, the other clutch automatically being disengaged and thus the roll associated therewith rotating independently of the shaft upon which it is mounted. If the rate of feed is to be changed the previously engaged clutch is disengaged and the other clutch engaged, the corresponding and drivingly connected rolls 13 thus rotating at the different speed.

The arrangement as illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3 does allow of the variation of the speeds of the two drive shafts, the latter being driven at their ends through chain sprockets 19 (FIG. 2), and thus permits of the formation of low or high pile according to Whether the drive is through the slow or the fast drive shaft.

If three pile heights are required, then the alternative arrangement shown in FIG. 4 is utilized, a third input shaft 12 and associated feed rolls 13 being provided. As before, an electromagnetic clutch 14' is provided between each roll 13' and its related shaft 12', and corresponding rolls on all three shafts are coupled together. Reference may be made to the aforementioned United States Patent No. 3,103,187 which discloses in detail the operation of a pattern attachment of the type set forth herein.

The control of the electromagnetic clutches at any yarn feed position, be it a'position presenting two rolls as FIG. 1 or three rolls as FIG. 4, can be effected in any convenient way, and thus, by an appropriate sequence of operation of the clutches, any desired variation in pile height for a given yarn can be attained.

The invention is not restricted to the exact features of the embodiments herebefore described since alternatives will readily present themselves to one skilled in the art. Thus, for example, the arrangement of FIGS. 1 and 3 can be modified by the substitution of a pawl and ratchet or any other uni-directional drive mechanism for the electromagnetic clutch of the rolls on the slow shaft, such mechanism overrunning when the electromagnetic clutch of the other rolls are effective in transmitting a drive from the fast shaft to the rolls carried thereby.

In an alternative arrangement, instead of driving the shafts from one end, a chain-and-sprocket drive to respective intermediate shafts extending radially of each of the drive shafts may be provided, the motion of each such intermediate shaft being transmitted to the respective drive shaft through a bevel gear coupling therebetween.

It will be seen from the above detailed description that a novel and improved pattern attachment for a tufting machine is provided which is compact in form, eificient in operation and relatively easy to maintain. If the need arises to effect the repair at any yarn feed position due to a malfunctioning or failure thereof, for example, to an electromagnetic clutch, a whole shaft section together with its feed rolls can be readily removed and a replacement fitted in its stead. The necessary repairs to correct the fault can be carried out away from the machine and without any need for the machine to be out of action save for the actual time involved during the removing of one shaft section and fitting a replacement. The machine down-time is therefore maintained at as a low a level aspossible. Furthermore, periodic service can be carried out by removing the sections in sequence and thus the period during which the machine is withdrawn from service for routine maintenance work to be carried out is reduced.

Having thus set forth the nature of this invention, what I claim herein is: 1

1. A'yarn feed rollerassembly including a plurality of drive shafts, 'a feed roll on each of such shafts and ro- 'tatable relative thereto, the corresponding rolls of the said shaft being drivingly connected one to another, and a drive transmitting means between each shaft and its respective roll comprising a first element fixed'for rotation with said shaft and a second element axially movable relative to said shaft, said feed roll being fixed to said axially movable element whereby said drive transmitting means is operable to effect a drive coupling between said shaft and its respective roll, the whole being adapted and arranged to allow of the driving of the rolls at the speed of one or other of the drive shafts.

2. A yarn feed roller assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of the drive transmitting means between the rolls on one shaft and the said shaft comprises an electromagnetic clutch adapted upon actuation to drivingly couple said shaft and roll.

3. A yarn feed roller as claimed in claim 2 wherein each electromagnetic clutch comprises a part keyed to the shaft, an annular disc mounted on the roll and movable relative thereto axially of the shaft, and a fixed clutch body adapted upon energization to effect an adjustment of the disc into or out of engagement with the part secured to the shaft.

4. A yarn feed roller assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein each feed roll comprises a cylindrical sleeve and a hub secured thereto, the said hub being rotatably mounted on the shaft and the drive transmitting means is disposed within the said sleeve.

5. A yarn feed roller assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the corresponding rolls are drivingly connected one to another by the intermeshing of peripheral teeth respectively provided thereon.

6. A yarn feed roller assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein two drive shafts are provided in spaced parallel disposition.

7. A yarn feed roller assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein each drive shaft is driven at an end thereof.

8. A yarn feed roller assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein each yarn feed roller assembly comprises a plurality of sections joined in end-to-end configuration by stub shafts drivingly coupled thereto.

9. A yarn feed roller assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein each drive shaft comprises a plurality of aligned shaft sectionsarranged in spaced end-to-end disposition, a stub shaft between each successive section, and cooperating means adapted drivingly to connect the stub shaft with the adjacent shaft section or sections.

10. A yarn feed roller assembly as claimed in claim 9 wherein the cooperating means includes a removable collar disposed about the shaft section and a stub shaft in their region of jointure.

11. A yarn feed roller assembly as claimed in claim 9 wherein each stub shaft is'supported in a bracket secured to the machine frame and a bearing is provided between the bracket and stub shaft supported thereby.

12. A yarn feed roller assembly as claimed in claim 11 wherein the stub shaft extends outwardly from each side of the said bracket to receive a shaft section thereat.

13. A yarn feed roller assembly as claimed in claim 9 wherein each shaft section includes a plurality of feed rollers freely rotatable thereon, and wherein an actuable coupling means is provided between each such roller and the said shaft roller.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1967 Adams et al 74661 X M. HENSON WOOD, JR., Primary Examiner us. 01. X.R. 74 661; 22 17s, 188 

